My nearly four year old son is a tad bit attached to his cars. Not only does he carry at least one in his pocket on school days, you’ll find one or two on his pillow at bedtime. Children, particularly little boys, are fascinated with cars. And not just play cars…my son frequently asks my husband if he can “drive” daddy’s “big” car. He’s a typical boy in this way with his vrooming and zooming all around the house.
Toy cars to a littte boy are fun. Motorized, custom-designed cars that he can help build are awesome. Last year around this time, RIDEMAKERZ re-designed and re-opened it’s store in Downtown Disney. Building on the concept of stuffing and dressing your own bear, founder and ZEO Larry Andreini originated the idea of building and customizing your own ride. His vision is to contribute to the positive development of children which I wholeheartedly support.
Boys and girls can exercise their creativity while having fun as they design something unique and original at RIDEMAKERZ. While I definitely think that children who can should have the experience of going into the store to build their ride, the online experience does not disappoint. Here is a brief overview of the process:
Children CHOOZE from over 70 body and paint styles including their newly released Disney-Pixar Cars 2 line which includes Lightning McQueen, Tow Mater, and Sally and either a Street or Monster chassis; Motorize (we opted for Radio-Control but you can also Free-Wheel it!); Mobilize by selecting wheelz and treadz and then building their RIDEZ in the RZ Pit Challenge; Customize by adding specialty lights, spoilers, side pipes, hood scoops, blown engines, roll bars, decals and more; and Cruize once they’ve loaded their Ridez into the RZ Cruizecase.
As I mentioned above, this is our second experience and my son was even more excited this time because of the tie in with Cars 2. We each ended up building a character from Disney-Pixar Cars and then put our own unique twist on each ride. With the help of a crew member, my son was able to use the power screw driver (with daddy’s assistance) to attach the chassis and then secured his wheelz onto Mater the Greater. Once he customized Mater with side pipez and a hood scoop, he was ready to Cruize!
Children have a wide variety of options when it comes to the body, engines, parts, and decals which makes each experience and car unique. This also means you can opt for a less expensive car or go all out and opt for ultimate customization.
Along with their 5 nationwide locations, RIDEMAKERZ is located within select new-format Disney Stores and Toys R Us stores nationwide.
This Father’s Day weekend, you can build one ride, and get one free (the Cars line isn’t included).
No compensation was received for this post. We were invited to build a ride at RIDEMAKERZ.
- Discover Luxury at Sonesta Irvine: Your Ideal Staycation - August 8, 2024
- CHOC Walk Returns to the Disneyland Resort – Special Events and Ways to Support - June 28, 2023
- Beastly Ball Returns to the Los Angeles Zoo - May 8, 2023
Leave a Reply